[Josh Journey]

Man, that was a sad ending, even though I saw the movie a long time ago, the book explains somethings that make me think, he was so close to making it out. I still think he's a great guy. One of my favorite quotes by him were: "So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situationbecause they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and diffrent sun." -Christopher Johnson McCandless Ever since I read that quote I been finding myself seek for change, perhaps not as dramatic as him, but to have a endlessly changing horizon is something great to have. To experience new things and explore new places. I felt that there were many things about me that were similar to him, that I wish I could have met him in person. I don't blame him one bit for going out into Alaska without a map, he had real spirit, I would rather be him and died at age 24 then to live a completly boring life of no excitement, not that I do not value life which I greatly do, but without excitement, I do not feel my self with much. Now I'm going to be honest with you guys, when I started this thread I did'nt mean just some hike, I meant going into the wild some day, exept perhaps I would do it with a safer approach.

[Tag Man]

I just finished the book also. While part of me thinks he was a real idiot for getting himself in a situation he could have easily gotten out of (as you mentioned no map), another part of me can really relate to him and his adventurous spirit. No doubt about it, either way you feel, the book definitely gives you some things to think about.

[Mike Collins]

Hey Flow...Your world can still be exciting with a map in your hand. Two years ago I hiked 90 miles traversing the Brooks Range feeling the wind in my face and the spirit you speak of. I didn't feel having maps in my pack cheapened the experience. And as far as wild goes, there weren't any buses around to sleep in at night so I must have been off the grid. There is a very good reason maps were invented. You can find your way back home to a warm bed.

[Josh Journey]

Soon to be a GPS.....

[Lono]

Complex question. McCandless is a litmus test for how we feel about our own lives - are we out there on the edge, are we living too conservatively, how do we feel about that. My friend Eric died in an ice avalanche at the age of 24, he was for his age a very experienced alpinist and outdoorsman (no McCandless) but was under the wrong ice at the wrong time. I think if he had slowed down a trip or two each year we might be hiking together today. What price 23 years since he died? Would 23 more years of fairly intense adventures be better than that one trip he took that he died on? Don't ask me, I didn't pay the ultimate price, he did. Ask Eric if he would prefer a life of conservative security or wreckless freedom. Oh right, you can't ask him, he's dead. And you can't tell me what he thinks of your question, his being dead might have changed his mind even if you knew it or he did. I sure can't tell you. No one can. They're all blowing smoke outta somewhere, the makings of another book. And besides, my answer to you was different when I was 23 than it would be now at 47. Having a sense of adventure doesn't mean you shouldn't go out into the world with the good sense that your momma and daddy hopefully gave you. McCandless' lesson is to have a map, and learn to use it. And know your limitations.

[nuclear_eggset]

I loved the book, and I can at least empathize with his sentiment. But one of the things that really pissed me off about his sentiment, as expressed through the book and his quotes. Take the one you used, Flow: "The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." I call bull. The basic core of HIS spirit may be his passion for adventure. HIS greatest joy may be endlessly changing horizons. But that is not THE greatest joy, universally speaking. It's the ultimate arrogance, imho, to assume you have the answer for everyone. Sure, we might be more likely to find that many of us share that sentiment, but we're hardly a randomized group of people! That doesn't mean that it's wrong to NOT want constant change, that it's wrong to NOT want adventure. There is value in adventure. There is value in change. There is value in stability. There is value in consistency. For that matter, there's nothing to say that apparent stability can't have it's own adventure, it might just be a different, more internal-process adventure. For me, what I interpreted out of the book as his extreme "can't stop moving towards a new place, a new day, a new challenge" is less actually serving a longing for adventure, and more of a reaction to fear of whatever he'll find if he is stationary, mentally or physically. But that's just my take on it.

[Dayhike Mike]

So the guy's inexperience and lack of preparation ended up getting himself killed in the end. Maybe there's something there that you might take note of to spare yourself the same fate. There's no shame in knowledge, preparation, learning...there's no dignity in death. The "adventure of a lifetime" shouldn't cut short that life and/or end in death.

[Josh Journey]

In reply to nuclear_eggset: I did not mean that the quote applies to everyone, it does'nt even fully apply to me, but I found it a very interesting quote. After hearing this quote my friends so happend to have me see the movie yes man, and I think there's some importance that for me that is when everything is the same every day (well close to the same) I get a feeling of unhappieness, but let's say hiking, for me even travelling to a new place is something new.

[nuclear_eggset]

[Stefan]

Been awhile since I read it. I came away thinking: He could have learned about what to do with meat from an animal from others. Isn't learning part of the adventure in life? Intentional ignorance is not an adventure and this guy went to challenge himself. Good for him, but it is like driving a car for the first time on I-5 and "seeing how I will do."

[The Angry Hiker]

He was 24 years old when he bought the farm. I wish I had a dime for every 24 year old know-it-all who thinks he has all the answers to the mysteries of life. Heck, I was one of them. And every 41 year old geezer I lectured about "happiness" would roll their eyes and tell me to grow up. Now that I'M a 41 year old geezer, I wish I could go back in time, slap myself around, and say "Jack Kerouac was a shiftless drunk, and Thoreau was a bedwetting sissy! Get a haircut and a job, you bum!" But I can't, because that would be plagiarism. Despite all the romantic Hollywood hooey surrounding his life, McCandless wasn't a sage. He was an arrogant little rich kid who was killed not by adventure, but by his own reckless stupidity.

[Josh Journey]

That's a pretty harsh way to say it.... well I personally feel like people look at him one sided, does him being rich have an effect on the story?

[nuclear_eggset]

Might well have had an impact on the choices he made. He might have felt the need for all this "adventure", all this "newness", because he didn't feel he had control elsewhere in his life; it was set out for him by expectations from his parents that did not match his heart. Might have been part of his desire to prove he could do all this alone, rather than depend on other people or things money could buy, as some sort of reactionary knee-jerk that skipped his brain entirely. You can psycho-analyze all of this from both perspectives (ours, looking at him; his, making those decisions) all you want. And you can learn from all the 'what if's'.

[Blue Dome]

Already been given the NWHikers treatment: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7960684&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

[The Angry Hiker]